Possession
by Millefiore
Summary: He was more than just her possession; he was a fool for love." - Folken/ Eries. A gift for Valentine's.


Nota Bene: I re-uploaded this story as I came across a minor mistake, but I knew I had to fix it. Anyways, this is my first (public) attempt at Folken/ Eries.

Please enjoy. _Escaflowne _does not belong to me, but I still greatly enjoy revisiting this series. I have much love for all the characters, esp. Folken and Eries.

The lyrics are from Sarah McLachlan's "Possession" and the song also lends to the title, as I tend to do with most of my written works because I'm not imaginative with title.

Please review and tell me what you think.

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**_The night is my companion_**

**_and Solitude, my guide . . . _**

"The setting seems repetitive, don't you think?"

He turned with a start, not expecting her presence in the slightest. There were a few hours yet before night gave way to dawn. He gave her a look that spoke of a mixture between confusion and something else. He was the one who was now reserved and quiet. He had been walking in solitude along the stone paths that traced around the edge of the royal gardens and was about to head back to his temporary living quarters when he heard the familiarity of her voice bring him back to attention. Back to hard reality.

The sound of falling water could be heard just behind her where an elegantly tiered marble fountain stood like a sentinel, but it was not as timeless as the two sentinels hovering in the sky. In the dying days of summer it was a rarity to see the two moons shine so bright.

He acknowledged that they had rarely crossed paths as much as they did now; they said far less to each other in the days he was sent to Palas as Dornkirk's military strategist and official envoy to the republic. The place, the broken fortifications of the walled city were familiar to him just as the face who watched him now as he closed the distance between them with cautious steps. It was like a mask. He had seen her countenance betray little to no emotion in spite of the rapid succession of events that had transpired; even her father's ill health seemed to leave her unaffected.

"Were you following me, Princess?" His eyes connected with her own, and from a closer vantage point he could see that they were wet with emotion. He did not think her the type to cry, but he did recognize there was a strong wind blowing tonight. He had difficulty keeping the covering that hid his mechanical arm from flying off.

But there was also something else to the way she looked at him---it was almost predatory.

"You have sufficient pride to accuse me so? I, like you, enjoy a promenade in the moonlight, should the fancy strike me. However, unlike you, I do not need to worry about a curfew. You do realize you are under special scrutiny, Strategos?"

If it were possible, he felt himself grow far more cold, as if she had placed an icy mantle across his shoulders.

"You know my name, _Eries_." His voice was restrained, altered, but just with enough edge to make his point.

"You have the pertinence to address me so...intimately. But you're right, I know who you were."

His eyes broke their hard gaze from hers where it fell upon a detail so minor, so random as the buttons of her blouse clumsily done up to reveal the milky whiteness of her exposed neck. It was lovingly bruised and bitten; the remnants of a heated passion. At that moment he was under the full weight of another emotion he couldn't quite place, he could feel the rhythm of his own blood pick up as it surged and pounded in his ears; he wasn't accustomed to feeling discomfited in this manner. He bit down hard on his lip, trying to keep an air of composure and indifference. After a pause he gave her a formal bow, as was custom when addressing a person of royal blood, but she stilled him with the sensation of her hand as it pulled on his elbow. He could feel the gentle pressure of her gloved hand pass through the heavy material of his cloak, and the increasing tension of her fingers as it tightened around the bulk of his arm. He returned to her the same attentive stare as before and he realized that she did not suit this aspect-- no, she was not one to inflict pain on others.

He let her hand travel of its own accord, lacing her fingers with his own calloused ones, and she proceeded to lead him into obscurity, into shadow, into one of many blind spots that the sentries posted atop the castle fortifications could not see. In private, her manners were very affected, and he was one of the few people privy to such rare glimpses of raw vulnerability. She pushed him inside an alcove tucked into a corner that belonged to the eastern portion of the castle. Moonlight streamed through a small stained glass window on a wall opposite where they stood. They drifted towards a ring, a pool of color, depicting a maiden frozen in prayer. There was an altar at the center of the room, and just beyond that, the stoic statue of Palas' deity: Jichia, in human form.

His first assessment of her was the correct one--she was in pain.

She suddenly trapped his face with both hands, her trembling fingers feathering over his high cheekbones, the ridge of his nose, and then his lips where they stilled, as if waiting for him to say or do something. But he remained as he wanted to appear: unyielding. They could still walk away from this...from this becoming something more than it ought to. He had done his best to convince himself that they were both deluded, both weak-minded and in her case, vulnerable to have fallen to such a vice. He wanted it to be lust and nothing more, but the look in her eyes and the unevenness of his breathing divulged too much truth that it hurt.

He was in love. Remarkably so, at a time in his life when he felt so undeserving of everything, especially her attentions. They were mired in their own struggle as a war was raging on behalf of peace thousands of leagues away. He would be lying to put it in any other way. He was just as obsessed, as transfixed, as focused on her than on any other woman he had known. What was worse, he knew that she was deserving of protection, a protection that he knew wasn't in his power to give.

"Princess." his voice held a note of supplication, and he gathered her hands in his own, mindful of the fact that he was using his other arm, but she was accustomed to its hideousness and was not in the least repulsed.

"We need to stop. We can't carry on like this. We can't live in secrecy, in fact, we won't."

Her eyes brimmed with fresh tears.

"Even though you tell me this, I know that you're words aren't sincere." She placed a hand over where his heart was. "To be honest, I'm a fool. I feel more alive around you than I have in an unbearably long time." She gave him a weak smile. "And if you want to remind me that you're a deserter, a criminal, a fiend, all I have to say is--I bear the the same guilt as you do. I was in the seat of power to delay or deny the policies you proposed for my country, and yet, I allowed this suffering to befall my people. I may be draped in shame and sin, but I refuse to let you go. I won't. I won't be left with nothing."

She repeated her last words again, as if to make them all the more real, to something tangible--unbreakable.

"You forget that Zaibachian politics leave little room for alternatives. I don't want to push you to do something you'll later regret. I don't want to hurt you like I've hurt Van. You'll feel more than just betrayal if we persist."

"Close your eyes."

"_What?_"

Eries chose her moments wisely when she wanted to be in the position of authority. He knew that little if any ground could be gained by arguing. He would indulge her wishes, just this once.

"Do as I say, and close your eyes."

He closed his eyes slowly, allowing the vision of her sanctimonious image to be preserved a second longer, and it wasn't long before he was blind to the world. He was achingly aware of her breathing, as well as his own, and it was tempting to reach out and feel for her, but he found the strength to keep his hands still.

Gradually, ever so gradually, he felt the familiar sensation of her lips as they tenderly kissed the palm of his hand and then, moments later, kiss the temple of his forehead. They were warm and felt soft like rose petals. She deliberately took her time, though he could feel that she was near. The air between them was tense and heavy with a latent heat. The prolonged wait of when skin would touch skin was a new torture that he hadn't anticipated. She felt her arms encircle his neck and pull him down and finally, finally did he recover the sweet sensation of her lips pressing against his own. He reciprocated her desires more ardently as the kiss deepened, not wanting to leave the molten touch of her mouth any time soon. He was too far gone. She had wanted to show him this.

He was more than just her possession; he was a fool for love.

**Fin (?)**

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Hope you enjoyed this improved version. I think it's complete, unless I decide to add other bits and pieces to it. Folken and Eries together is just...well, it makes me feel all fluffy inside. I like this secret kind of passion they have going, and I like that Eries is not as weak as people may think she is. Their love isn't perfect or innocent, and I guess it's a little borderline unhealthy, but hey, their world is a chaotic mess when this is happening. Anyhoo, don't forget to review! ^o^

Just to note, Folken's voice actor has the sexiest voice ever, English and Japanese version, but funnily enough, it's always the English version I picture in my mind when I wrote this. ;)

~ _Millefiore_


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